11 die in New Year
accidents, killings
BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN &
DONALYN GUERRERO

Scores injured by
blasts, fire, stray bullets
BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN &
DONALYN GUERRERO

Explosions from firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices during the New Year's eve celebration burned three houses and injured 39 persons in Bacolod City and in different towns and cities of Negros Occidental.

The number of firecracker blast victims rose from 22 in 2004 to 39 last year, police records show.

Felamie Balitausan and Victoria Dempo were also hit by stray bullets on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 in Brgys. Estefania and Magsungay in Bacolod City.

Bright forecast for
Negros economy in '06
BUT UNIFED WANTS LEDESMA TO RESIGN
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Officials yesterday were optimistic about the economy of Negros Occidental in 2006 with high millgate sugar prices, but expect Sugar Regulatory Administrator James Ledesma to face a delicate balancing act in protecting the interests of both producers and consumers.

Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines Inc., yesterday reiterated his call for Ledesma to resign for failing to consult the sugar industry before lifting the allocation of 20 percent of the sugar produced in the Philippines as reserve, causing millgate prices to dip in the last week of December.

Ledesma should fulfill his wish to be the "happiest person" by resigning from the SRA, Lamata said.